After Leaving Kings, McElroy Has Become the Biggest Dog : Valley Native Runs L.A.’s Minor-League Hockey Team

NORTH HILLS —  Greg McElroy inherited his drive and work ethic from his mother, Diane, who raised two children alone and worked two jobs to support them.

“Seeing how hard my mom worked helped me learn to appreciate even the little things,” McElroy said. “I knew that the only way to achieve anything was to work real hard.”

The plan has paid off for the 38-year-old Valley native, who is considered to be one of the top young executives in sports marketing.

In February 1995, McElroy was hired as president of the new Los Angeles Ice Dogs hockey team.

The Ice Dogs are part of the 19-member International Hockey League that competes September through April.

L.A. is in third place (21-15-5) of the 10-member Southwest Division. The team plays at the Sports Arena--though it will move to the Long Beach Arena next season--and trains at Iceoplex in North Hills, which is also the practice headquarters of the L.A. Kings.

McElroy spent four years as vice president of marketing with the Kings before taking over the Ice Dogs’ operation. During his tenure with the Kings, sponsorship sales increased 300% and the team became the National Hockey League’s No. 1 franchise in advertising revenues.

“Not only did he work hard selling the Kings, he always worked hard to help the individual players establish relationships in the business community,” said Wayne Gretzky, the Kings’ star center.

“The Great One” knows all about strong business connections. Gretzky ranked 10th in Forbes magazine’s 40 athletes who earned most in 1995. He earned $14.5, about $6 million of it in endorsements.

“For the Ice Dogs to hire a guy like Greg is a big coup for the organization,” Gretzky said. “He’s highly respected in the business community in L.A.”

Going from major league hockey to a new team in what is considered a minor league was a risky move by McElroy. But he wanted a challenge and the opportunity to run an organization.

So far he has done well considering L.A. is a huge market that’s notoriously tough to succeed in.

The Ice Dogs’ average attendance is 4,336, second-lowest in the IHL, but the club has a television (Prime Sports) and radio (KMAX) deal and several major corporate sponsorships.

“Either I’m crazy or very ambitious,” McElroy said. “I left the cushion of an established NHL team for the IHL.”

Another thing his mother taught him: take chances.

Most in the sports marketing business believe McElroy made a good career move though it may turn out to be an uphill battle.

“With the Kings he was part of the puzzle and now he’s top dog,” said Ice Dog coach and general manager John Von Boxmeer. “Now he has control over everything and he does a great job.”

McElroy, a graduate of Grant High who lives in West Hills, is a hands-on manager who is involved with all aspects of the team. He oversees everything from operations to public relations to the payroll.

The Ice Dogs were the San Diego Gulls for three years before Fred Comrie moved the team to L.A. and changed the name. Comrie, who recently sold the Ice Dogs to Barry Kemp, moved north because he wanted to compete in a bigger market.

His people called McElroy and asked him to interview for the position of president.

“I was intrigued by the idea of building a team from scratch in my home town,” McElroy said. “And building a staff with my own people and being involved with the overall operation of a team. It’s every guy’s dream.”

McElroy may be the big man in charge, but he is still a down-to-earth guy who laughs whenever he is reminded that he is a president. He always figured he’d be successful in business, but hockey was the last sport he ever imagined being associated with. After all, McElroy played football in high school and college, never cared for cold weather and can’t even skate. He was an offensive and defensive lineman at Grant and Pierce College and eventually earned a football scholarship to the University of Hawaii, where he started two seasons.

McElroy completed his business degree at Hawaii in 1979 and after a short stint in sales at IBM went into radio sales, where he stayed for 12 years.

His reputation flourished in marketing circles and the Kings asked that he come in and run the organization’s marketing department in 1990.

“It is kind of strange how I went from the radio business to hockey, of all things,” McElroy said. “My career has taken some interesting turns.”

Now hockey is huge in the McElroy household. Several times a week McElroy is up at 4 a.m. to take his 7-year-old son, Greg, to hockey practice at Iceoplex.

McElroy also watches the Ice Dogs practice on most days and attends all home games.

He has learned to love hockey and considers it a great spectator sport, but realizes that in Southern California the game’s minor league version can’t take off without help.

So in an effort to promote the team and the league, he schedules cheerleaders, music and an array of entertainment at every game.

McElroy believes the shows combined with low ticket prices ($11 average compared to a $44 average for Kings’ games) will attract more fans. In the meantime McElroy continues to brainstorm as he searches for innovative ways to market his new team.

“I know we can’t compete with the Kings, so we have to be unique,” McElroy said. “It’s all going to center around being different and it’s my job to do that.”

It’s a good thing his mother taught him to put in long hours on the job.